You're My Medicine
by breakingafterall
Summary: When Cat's brother is on new meds that cause him to hallucinate and hurt her, Jade gets blamed for Cat's injuries.


Fridays are usually my favorite days. I get to wake up, go through the school day, and then get back home and sleep for hours. However, on this particular Friday, my nerves were getting the best of me. We were going to find out who got parts in the Halloween play, and I had auditioned for the lead. I wanted to be the witch more than any other role I'd ever auditioned for, and I felt my heart racing as I brushed my teeth. Beck had texted me asking if I could bring him a hammer so he could fix something in his room, so I had to lug that around in my back all day. I practically smashed my finger when I dropped it from my hands shaking so much. I rushed to school, flustered, and sat down in my first period's seat.

Cat walked into class, and she was holding an ice pack to her head. She sat next to me like usual, and flopped her bag onto the floor. She wasn't smiling like usual, but instead had a frown plastered on her face. I was staring at her, waiting for her to tell me what happened, but she just sat in her seat silently.

"Cat," I nudged her lightly, "what happened to your head?"

She looked over at me and I suddenly noticed that her lip was split, too, and her eye was black and blue. My jaw dropped and she just stared back at me. "My brother hit me again," she sighed, "he thought that I was trying to steal the TV. I was just watching TV. I wasn't stealing it, Jade." I saw a tear roll down her cheek and she put her head into her hands.

"Don't cry," I put my arm around her, trying to calm her down. "What did he hit you with this time?" I rubbed her back until she managed to get herself together.

"A fucking chair," she threw the ice pack at her desk, "I can't take this anymore, it's not fair. I told my mom and dad that he needs to get off of this new medication, but they won't listen to me. I don't understand how they can not listen to me. They keep saying that I just need to accept how my brother is, but he's out of control."

I wanted to kill her brother. I wanted to kill her whole family for how they treated her. They never took her seriously, and they couldn't even see that she can't be around that boy anymore? He was insane. Completely insane, and mentally unstable. This was the third time in the past five months, yet they just keep saying that he can't control himself.

If killing him didn't mean going to jail and never being there for Cat, then I would have killed him months ago. She wasn't even the same anymore. The girl that could put a smile on my face no matter what was gone. She never laughed or told us stories that made no sense. She just sat with us, quiet, smiling every now and then at one of Rex's jokes. She was terrified in her own home, and I didn't know what to do.

Class started before I could comfort her anymore. I left my arm around her, and she cuddled against me for the entire period. I knew that having me next to her was enough. I was the only person that knew the truth. She told everyone else that she fell, and everyone believed her since she is pretty clumsy. I hated them all for believing the bullshit.

By the time the last period of the day was over, Cat had cheered up a bit. She wasn't crying anymore, but she kept the ice pack on her face and hovered next to me while we all went to see who got what part in the Halloween play. My heart was racing and my palms were sweaty, but I knew I had to stay calm. I let Tori look at the paper first, and after she read it, she stomped her foot and stormed away.

"What's wrong, Vega? Didn't get the part?" I smirked at her, trying to act like I was sure I got it.

"No." She rolled her eyes, "But neither did you!"

My eyes widened, and I pushed past everyone to see who got the lead. I skimmed the paper until I saw it. "Cat!" I screamed, turning to her, "Cat, you got the lead! Ugh, I'm going to kill you." I laughed, hugging her tight, "Congratulations! This is awesome. It would have been better if it was me, but at least it's not Tori, right?"

She smiled at me, shrugging. "You might as well kill me. You deserve the part. I can't do it looking like this."

"Oh shut up," I was tossing my keys in the air as we walked down the hall to my locker. I was happy for her. I really was. But when it started to sink in that I wasn't going to be anything in the Halloween show, I sighed. "At least I get to be a witch for Halloween when me and you go to that party, right?"

"Yeah." She giggled. "I bought all the makeup I need for my zombie costume. You should come over today and help me test it out. I got a pumpkin we can carve, too." I nodded and we stopped at my locker so I could get some books. Part of me knew that she just wanted me to be with her for protection. She knew that she was my best friend and I would protect her no matter what. I texted Beck and let him know that I couldn't meet him at his place to give him the hammer, and he told me that it was okay because Robbie had brought him one anyway. The two of us walked to my car and I drove to her house.

Her brother wasn't home when we got there, in fact, no one was home. We threw our bags onto her couch and the first thing she did was run into the kitchen to get something to eat. "I think you deserve a slice of that cake," I said, pointing at the cake sitting on her kitchen counter. She shook her head no, but I grabbed a plate and a knife and cut her a slice. I licked the crumbs off of the knife and then tossed it into the sink.

"No, no, I don't want that-" She pushed the plate away but I shoved it into her hands. "Jade, no, I don't-"

"Eat the cake, Cat." I laughed. "You know you want it, and you know you deserve it."

She finally gave in, taking the plate and shoving the cake into her mouth, bite by bite. I got some water from her fridge and then we both went into her bedroom and flopped onto her bed. For a while, we just talked and listened to music. Then she pulled her makeup set out and I started to do her zombie makeup.

"This looks great," I said, "way better than that makeup you did on Tori's face."

"She hated me for that," Cat giggled. "Jade, can I ask you something?"

I squirted some fake blood onto a makeup sponge. "Of course." I was trying to be as nice and calm around her as possible, even though there were a million things driving me crazy. For example, her brother. Another example, I got no part in the play. A third example, I was spending my Friday evening doing something other than sleeping. But those last two weren't as important. But they still made me mad.

"Do you think he's going to kill me?" She said it quietly, and it made my heart sink. "I'm so scared."

"He's not going to kill you, because I'll kill him if he lays a hand on you again." I put my hand on her shoulder, "Trust me. No one hurts you anymore."

"But Jade, it's not his fault. It's his medicine. So you can't blame him..." She sighed, looking away, "Part of me wants to hate him, and the other part of me still loves him because he's my brother."

"Why can't you tell the police about this? I'm sure they can force your parents to do something about his medication, or even get him to live somewhere else." I smeared some fake blood onto her neck.

"My parents said not to," she was hugging one of her stuffed animals to her chest now, still that little girl locked in a teenager's body.

I got up from her bed and walked to where I had left my bag. Inside, I had a hammer. I brought it to her and told her to use it if he ever tried to hurt her again.

"Why do you carry a hammer with you, Jade?" She stared at me, dumbfounded.

"Beck needed one, but Robbie brought him one instead, so now... I just have it." I shrugged. "I think that it'd be more useful here than in my purse."

I finished her makeup and we took a few pictures of it. I helped her carry a pumpkin inside that she had in her backyard. I tried to draw an intricate design on the front of it to carve out, but as soon as Cat stabbed it with a knife and started to carve, my design was ruined. We laughed it off and ended up carving a regular face into it. By the time we were done, it was getting dark out.

"How about I pick up a candle tomorrow morning, and we can finish this baby up tomorrow?" I stretched, "It's getting late, and I need sleep."

"Okay!" She smiled, and walked me to the door. I got all my things together and then hugged her as tight as I could.

"If you need me, call me. You know where I am. You can come to my house any time you want to, you know that. You're my best friend and I love you and you know that I will do anything I need to for you to be happy. And trust me, I don't say that to a lot of people." I winked at her.

"I know, Jade." She hugged me back. "Thank you."

I left, got in my car, and drove home. I should have stayed with her. I really should have stayed with her.


End file.
